Designing Interventions
The act of designing systems interventions requires constant attention. It is a process of evolution not one of control.
Heart of the Art
Leadership, change and living systems
Dormant Last read · last published · next check
Read 21 hours ago and current, but nothing has been published for 15 months.
Latest posts
A Living Systems Mindset
An organisation consists of people, interacting with each other and the environment in which they operate. This is a living system, people are alive and so is much of the world in which they live. It is therefore helpful to view human organisation through the lens of ecosystems
Patterns
An exploration of patterns through time builds a common context for your organisation. It breathes life into its story and brings meaning to all that it does. Exploring patterns is a remarkably simple thing to do and it can bring profound consequences.
Dialoguing at scale – reflecting on experience
John Atkinson, David Nabarro, Florence Lasbennes, Charlotte Dufour 07 May 2025 More than 1,600 multi-stakeholder dialogues were convened in preparation for the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021. These dialogues helped facilitate inclusive explorations of the complex challenges of transforming food systems and accelerate progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The context for…
Navigating difference
By John Atkinson and David Nabarro Leadership requires the capacity to navigate difference. Good leaders help groups of people achieve greater impact through enabling them to make sense of their different perspectives. This is vital if those involved share a purpose or interest but do not have a clear agreement on how to move forward. They may […]
Curiouser and curiouser? Alice in Wonderland
By John Atkinson Consultants do love their models. They’re seductive. LinkedIn is an endless stream of people showcasing some framework that offers the world an answer. The egotistical even put their names to them. I too find these models and frameworks fascinating. After decades of consulting, I enjoy looking at each ‘new’ solution to see […]
Your call really matters
integrity matters, in all senses of the word. Look at things in the whole and spot the patterns. Are these helping or hindering your operation? What gives rise to them? Integrity requires saying what you mean and doing what you say if you want to create meaning.
Connection or Connector
Healthy systems are beautifully connected.Some are conscious like running or jumping, some are autonomic like breathing or heartbeats.
Stepping Across A Threshold
When business environments change, businesses must change or become irrelevant. There’s plenty of good case examples of those that have done this successfully and those that have not.
Fail fast or zero defects?
The North Atlantic Gannet is a seabird that mates for life. Each season they have one egg, one chick. The chick takes 4-5 years to reach maturity. It’s a zero defect policy. The energy involved in feeding and nurturing one young bird is so much that having two chicks would mean neither survive. The parents’ […]